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Description

Isabella is a very large, relatively
shallow lake on the southern edge of the BWCAW, 25 miles southeast of Ely
and less than a mile north of Forest Center. Round in form and three miles
across, with a large prominent island in its north end, most of Isabella's
1516 acres are less than 15' deep and its greatest depth but 18'.
Rocky shoals are common in the center of the lake.

Isabella is a part of the extensive Kawishiwi River watershed.
At the east end of the lake is the mouth of the Perent River, a little
traveled and often challenging wilderness river, running down from Perent
Lake. A 16 rod, up-and-over portage bypasses the shallow rapids
just above the mouth of the Perent, connecting with Boga just upstream.
At the opposite end of the lake is the head of the Isabella River (photo
above) which flows west from Isabella to Bald
Eagle and the Lower Kawishiwi. A reasonably level, 28 rod portage
along the north bank bypasses the shallows here. Finally, off the
south shore of Isabella, a portage of disputed length (35 rods to Fisher,
56 to McKenzie, and 110 to the SNF; scaling off the USGS map at about
80) climbs nearly 40' to BWCAW Entry Point 35 on Forest Road 377, just
north of Forest Center.

The forest around Isabella dates largely from the big Lake
Insula fire of 1864, with significant remnants surviving from the
earlier 1824 burn. The Independence Day windstorms of 1999 did no
significant damage in the Isabella area.

Campsites

Isabella supports a dozen established
campsites. Finding an open site can be difficult during peak travel
times, however, owing to the entry point on the southern shore.

Planning Considerations

Isabella is a major lake on the Perent/Isabella
Route, running some 30 miles from Perent in the
east to Bald Eagle in the west. For all
its size, however, Isabella is basically just a pass-through lake, with
an entry point on the side.

Notes and Comments

Isabella is both a challenge to reach and
readily accessible, depending upon whether one comes into the lake off one
of the wilderness rivers, or just dropped in from the parking lot off Forest
Road 377. Though not on the scale of the Number Lakes, Isabella can
create something of a unexpected transition from the relative quiet and
isolation of the backcountry, to a popular, and often heavily used lake.
But then, it's just a three mile paddle back to the wilderness on the other
river, at the other end of the lake.